Q 01/05

Which metal, oxidising into a verdigris patina after 1900, gives the Statue of Liberty its colour?

A) Copper

B) Bronze

C) Brass

D) Iron

Answer · why

A) Copper

Copper oxidised into the patina that spread across the statue shortly after 1900, and Congress, taking it for corrosion, voted money to paint the whol...

Q 02/05

Which football team, founded in 1959 as the Titans, switched to green and white in 1963 under another name?

A) Buffalo Bills

B) New York Jets

C) Philadelphia Eagles

D) Miami Dolphins

Answer · why

B) New York Jets

The New York Jets were named for the jet age and for their new home, Shea Stadium, between LaGuardia and Idlewild airports, and dropped the Titans' bl...

Q 03/05

Most 'wasabi' paste served outside Japan is a dyed mixture based on which cheaper root vegetable?

A) Daikon radish

B) Ginger

C) Turnip

D) Horseradish

Answer · why

D) Horseradish

Horseradish, mustard, starch and green food colouring or spinach powder make up the usual substitute, while real wasabi is grated from a plant in the ...

Q 04/05

The green sea turtle takes its name from the colour of which part of the animal, rather than its olive-to-black shell?

A) Its body fat

B) Its eggs

C) Its tongue

D) Its blood

Answer · why

A) Its body fat

Its body fat is green, a colour usually credited to the adults' diet of seagrass and algae, and it lies in a layer between the inner organs and the sh...

Q 05/05

Which English king is popularly but wrongly credited with composing the folk tune 'Greensleeves'?

A) Richard III

B) Henry VIII

C) Charles II

D) James I

Answer · why

B) Henry VIII

Henry VIII gets the credit by myth alone; the ballad was first registered in London in 1580, more than thirty years after his death, and the tune is u...